Roosting

 

The roosting has begun - they are on the move!  Actually its been a few days now, just getting the time to get around to reporting it.  But WOW we're having a fun time here with the show in the pasture each day and in the yard in the evening and morning!

(I partially blurred the number so our Florida

friend wouldn't get too many phone calls!)

 

This morning we had a "late" roost...they're usually out and dispersed/feeding by mid morning but today they were still roosting and clustering here and there out of the brisk wind.  It was 10:50 am when Georgie came and got me to look, as she'd been out doing chores and was seeing lots of action.

I brought the camera out and was watching all the roosts and amazed they hadn't dispersed when I saw a tag!  I photographed this on one of the soft maples on the north side of our grove, out of the wind...just sitting and resting.  And no wonder!

I called the tag number and spoke with a gentleman from Florida who was staying in Wisconsin, visiting his daughter.  He took the tag number and his daughter looked it up and found she had tagged "this very" Monarch individual on August 20th in Franksville, Wisconsin - north of Milwaukee about 10 miles - along Lake Michigan.

I don't want to name the person without his permission but he has been doing research on Monarchs for the past 10 years and started his research in Florida.  Florida Monarchs are unique in that they don't migrate - they are a resident population.  There is a parasite that Florida Monarchs are experiencing and they have been tagging these Monarchs and taking small samples from their abdomens (doesn't harm them) to check for the parasite...he referred to it as the "OE" parasite.  They do this work through the University of Georgia and have 160 volunteers in Florida doing the work.  Now his daughter is also tagging and checking the Monarchs (our migratory Monarchs bound for Mexico) and this one was tagged there in Wisconsin August 20th - very cool!!!

 

So far this Monarch has been flying due west of where it was tagged!  Maybe it heard we have loads of flowers here for nectaring (tongue-in-cheek)!?!  No wonder this poor critter was just intent to rest this morning...that's a long flight over the past 16 days!

 

I hope this Monarch makes it's way all the way to Mexico and we can hear from it again...wouldn't that be the greatest story!!!

 

Keep an eye out and enjoy the sight, soon they will depart...

 

 

Sneaking Past!!!

 Band-winged Meadowhawk

in morning dew at Prairie Hill Farm

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Time is sneaking past me!!!  I hope I'm not the only one that notices...it should "NOT" be September already!!!!

I'm afraid I'm a victim of technology...my work/business computer was "blue screening" me nearly every day this summer and I finally broke down and bought a new one.  Well - I found how difficult it is replacing 10 years worth of software and passwords!!!  The software thing was a the major "time eater" and is still my nemesis - Auuugggghhhhhh!!!!!  Its been 4 weeks and I still have some hurdles to get over...I liked Windows 7 better!!!!  (Sorry for complaining so much.)

I found a couple days ago I couldn't even interact with my blogs.  2 days later (with no help from google!) I finally got control back and can no longer procrastinate and am trying to get back to blogging once more.  (Oops, complaining again!)

We are right in the middle of the Bird and Monarch migrations now.  We had our first Monarch Roost on August 30th and are just now hatching out Monarchs in the pasture too...we'll see one more roost and they'll likely all be on their way to Mexico!  I do have a few caterpillars and chrysalises here inside the studio...these are from eggs I found here on the acreage and I brought them inside to "finish out" so as to give them a better chance at reaching adulthood.  (I've read that survival can be as low as 5% in the wild for eggs and caterpillars - adopting and keeping a watch can increase that a lot - so far I'm getting 100% survival).

 

 Monarch Roost at Prairie Hill Farm - 8-30-2018

photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison 

It's kind of a bittersweet thing when this time of the year comes along, and all your "friends" start leaving.  This morning we only have one Baltimore Oriole left; we still have 2-3 Hummers around the feeders and the Catbirds, Barn Swallows and Red-headed Woodpeckers are still around.  But it won't be long.  At least that will bring our northern fall migrants through and then our winter residents, so there's a bright side to every thing that comes about.

If you haven't been out there, you might want to do so - Summer is sneaking past...don't miss it!

 

More Movement for the Monarch Migration Here

The big push has now gone through - for the fall Monarch Butterfly migration...they're still trickling through but not in the high numbers of a week back.  We had over a hundred at our highest one evening and morning.  This was nothing like 15 years ago when that number was over a thousand and more, but it is a slight improvement over just a couple years ago when a dozen was not attainable.

 

 

 Monarchs in the prairie pasture goldenrod here

Photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 

 Monarchs in the prairie pasture New England Aster here

Photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Monarchs resting on the Gray-headed Coneflower seed heads

in the prairie pasture here

Photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Monarchs roosting in the grove here

Photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

 Monarchs roosting in the grove here

Photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison

Now its up to the rest of their journey and the winter ahead in Mexico...I wish them the best of luck!

It's Begun!

Monarch on Joe Pye

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view

Late yesterday afternoon I was taking a photograph of this female Monarch butterfly on the Joe Pye weed next to the studio deck...somewhere in the back of my mind was the question - "When will the migration begin?  I believe it must be getting close."

"Valley Shadows and Clouds"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view

A bit later I noticed the clouds moving in with an intermittent breeze.  It felt like a front moving through.  I was distracted and spent some time looking skyward and photographing the landscape out front.  On my way back into the studio I noticed several Monarchs in the yard acting as if they were "gathering"; was a roost in the making?!!!

"The Roost Begins!"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view 

 

We actually had a roost in the yard - it wasn't a record breaker, like back in 2005 but it was a good first roost especially looking back the past 5 years here.

 

"A Small Roost"

(photograph - © Bruce A. Morrison) 

click on image for a larger view 

I could count 46 individuals; there were a few moving around so there certainly could have been more...tough counting these guys when they aren't totally settled in.

 

It's begun!  Lets hope for a good year for Monarchs in North America - and a safe winter ahead!